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The aftermath of the Blues’ 5-3 meltdown Friday night began with a film session Saturday morning.
“We showed some clips of last night,” Blues coach Andy Murray said. “We didn’t show the goals against. We just showed some of the trends in the game that we weren’t happy with . . . that we were letting get away from us. You can’t cheat in this game, so we talked about a few areas.”
Then it was off to practice, where skating and individual drills where plentiful. During the one-on-one battles, players were sticking to teammates pretty good. In fact, one former NHLer in the stands said a fight might have broken out 30 years ago if teammates cross-checked each other like that in practice back then.
The final drill of the day was intense. The entire team began on the bench. When the whistle blew, five players climbed over the wall and went hard for 40 seconds. There was a coach in all three zones, and when the whistle blew, the five guys skated to that zone. There was no puck.
There were four lines involved and the drill went on for 20 minutes. By my calculation, that’s 1,200 seconds divided by 40-second shifts for a total of 30. If you divide 30 shifts by four lines, each line did the drill at least seven times.
“It was a tough practice,” Murray said. “The last drill we did for 20 minutes. It was all zones, skate hard for 40 seconds, which is what you’re supposed to do. We didn’t do it in the final 20 minutes last night.”
The drill had other purposes, too.
“It was basic, but it got guys in the right positions and made guys think a little bit without the puck,” defenseman Erik Johnson said. “Without the puck, you focus on your assignments and where you’re supposed to be.”
When Murray blew the final whistle of the day, the players hustled over to him, which is customary. It’s also tradition that whoever is the last player to the group has to skate an extra lap around the rink. On the last whistle today, Barret Jackman, Darryl Sydor and T.J. Oshie all skated the extra lap, and it appeared they were planning to do so regardless of if they were last to the group.
“Gotta be a leader,” Jackman said.
After the hour-plus workout, players were gassed when they returned to the locker room. But interestingly, they admitted they probably deserved more.
“We actually got back in the room after and said, ‘You know what, we’re still not done . . . we haven’t repaid what we deserve,’” forward B.J. Crombeen said. “Everyone in this room has been around long enough, has played hockey long enough, to know that we’re accountable for our actions and last night was unacceptable. Our play on home ice has been unacceptable all year. We’ve got to get back to ground zero, get working and try to focus on our next game.”
Murray indicated today that the Blues will practice Sunday and Monday before meeting Calgary Tuesday night at Scottrade Center.
“We deserve everything we get the next four days,” Sydor said. ”It’s a business and if you’re not willing to do it in a game, be ready to do it in practice.”
“We showed some clips of last night,” Blues coach Andy Murray said. “We didn’t show the goals against. We just showed some of the trends in the game that we weren’t happy with . . . that we were letting get away from us. You can’t cheat in this game, so we talked about a few areas.”
Then it was off to practice, where skating and individual drills where plentiful. During the one-on-one battles, players were sticking to teammates pretty good. In fact, one former NHLer in the stands said a fight might have broken out 30 years ago if teammates cross-checked each other like that in practice back then.
The final drill of the day was intense. The entire team began on the bench. When the whistle blew, five players climbed over the wall and went hard for 40 seconds. There was a coach in all three zones, and when the whistle blew, the five guys skated to that zone. There was no puck.
There were four lines involved and the drill went on for 20 minutes. By my calculation, that’s 1,200 seconds divided by 40-second shifts for a total of 30. If you divide 30 shifts by four lines, each line did the drill at least seven times.
“It was a tough practice,” Murray said. “The last drill we did for 20 minutes. It was all zones, skate hard for 40 seconds, which is what you’re supposed to do. We didn’t do it in the final 20 minutes last night.”
The drill had other purposes, too.
“It was basic, but it got guys in the right positions and made guys think a little bit without the puck,” defenseman Erik Johnson said. “Without the puck, you focus on your assignments and where you’re supposed to be.”
When Murray blew the final whistle of the day, the players hustled over to him, which is customary. It’s also tradition that whoever is the last player to the group has to skate an extra lap around the rink. On the last whistle today, Barret Jackman, Darryl Sydor and T.J. Oshie all skated the extra lap, and it appeared they were planning to do so regardless of if they were last to the group.
“Gotta be a leader,” Jackman said.
After the hour-plus workout, players were gassed when they returned to the locker room. But interestingly, they admitted they probably deserved more.
“We actually got back in the room after and said, ‘You know what, we’re still not done . . . we haven’t repaid what we deserve,’” forward B.J. Crombeen said. “Everyone in this room has been around long enough, has played hockey long enough, to know that we’re accountable for our actions and last night was unacceptable. Our play on home ice has been unacceptable all year. We’ve got to get back to ground zero, get working and try to focus on our next game.”
Murray indicated today that the Blues will practice Sunday and Monday before meeting Calgary Tuesday night at Scottrade Center.
“We deserve everything we get the next four days,” Sydor said. ”It’s a business and if you’re not willing to do it in a game, be ready to do it in practice.”
